This invention relates in general to golf clubs, and in particular to an iron-type golf club having interchangeable components to alter the characteristics of the club head.
Golf clubs generally include a shaft, a hand grip attached to one end of the shaft, and a head attached to the other end of the shaft. The head includes a generally flat striking surface for hitting a golf ball with a relatively high impact force. A golfer generally uses a set of iron-type clubs having varying loft angles. The loft angle is generally defined as the angle between the striking surface and the axis of the shaft or to the horizontal. The golfer selects one of a plurality of iron-type clubs based upon the distance that the golf ball is to be hit and the desired back spin on the ball. For relatively short distances and/or when the golf ball is in a sand environment, a golfer generally selects a club commonly referred to as a wedge. A wedge is generally defined as an iron-type club having a relatively high loft angle. The head of the wedge may also be heavier than the heads of other iron-type clubs.
Most wedges, and other iron-type clubs, include a bottom surface which is angled from the ground, commonly referred to as the bounce angle of the club head. The bounce angle can be any desired angle. Generally, long iron-type clubs with low loft angles have a relatively low bounce angle or even a zero bounce angle such that the bottom surface of the club is generally parallel with the ground. Short iron-type clubs, such as wedges, have a relatively high bounce angle. The bounce surface is generally the first portion of the club head which engages the ground, sand, or grass surface of which the golf ball is hit from. Generally, a head with a higher bounce angle is easier to play from soft sand or grass because it will naturally fight the tendency to dig into the ground or sand. In general, the higher the bounce angle, the less the club head will dig into the sand. Instead, the head bounces or glides through the impact area just below the sand""s surface, reducing the likelihood of digging too deep. A club head with less of a bounce angle tends to dig more into the ground, but is generally better for firm ground conditions when digging is more difficult so that the striking surface of the head hits squarely on the ball. Thus, a single integral club head is not always desirable depending on the characteristics of the golf course or based on the desired preference of the user of the club.
This invention relates to a golf club head having a single body and a plurality of interchangeable bottom flanges to alter the bounce angle of the club head. The golf club head has a body which includes a striking surface for contact with a golf ball. The club head also includes a lower portion which couples with one of a plurality of flanges adapted to be fastened to the lower portion of the body. Each flange is configured to have a lower ground engaging surface defining a predetermined bounce angle such that replacing one of the plurality of flanges alters the bounce angle of the head. Preferably, the flange includes a plurality of cavities for receiving interchangeable weights for altering the weight characteristics of the club head.